The Dillon tribune., 1887-09-09
sH0sHoNE FALLS
.,.,. beautiful. Glorious and Powerful
r.xen Than Niagara.
,salt Lake Enterprise.J


., universally the brightest gems in
~. ,' are hidden away in secret places
',1 ',1'', man to see them must leave the beaten
'nu -. I'D ,oil among obstacles to reach
p''' -. - There is no more apt illustration
's.s,, w. than that found in the shoshone
r,'. M If Snake River. in Idaho Astor's
''1' '..,. IN 1911; Bonneville in 1898,
ssgr,, :, r,emont in 1s4: 3, passed within three
'' ,,r miles Of the great wonder, as did
,h,,osands Of emigrants going to Ore.
" . nd California in later years, without
- s.ov;n. Of its existence. And This was
m :, level valley, where the expanse OF Wis.
v.s almost limitless. 1t was left until
:. tftiss for some stragglcr to discover
=, Falls and report their beauty and mag.
,,d. Snake River rises around the Te-
.,,s and the country skir,ing the Yellow.
49,. National Park, one branch flowing
,.,n south Of the Park, and the other
,,,u Henry's Lake, on the west. The
,,,ches flow much through country
-, ovrrAowed with lava, and the main
,v,r is skirted with great lava beds on
.,,er side for hundreds of miles. BY the
IN, the river reaches American Falls it
,,comes rushing torrent, and attracts the
,+.,,;on Of all passengers OF the Oregon
Short Line Railway, which spans the river
| IN high bridge at this point. The river
then flows peacefully along for nearly one
hundred miles, where it enters canyon
,bou, twenty miles long. Here the great
| field Of lava appears to have opened
reyasse Of one thousand feet deep, as 1t
' BY contraction. Each side of this chasm
appears % BE- Of the same general level and
leaves the impression that the zig. gag lines
on opposite sides once fitted together and
had only moved apart through some con-
ynlsion Of nature, or by contraction in cool.
ing The walls are perpendicular half the
xy down, from which the slide rock lies
aa sloping angle Of forty. five degrees, and
coming 50 near to each other as 10 leave
,rrow bed for the flow of water. This
nyon in itself is a wonder, but is only
plude to what is below. To go through
The canyon is impossible, except by severe
climbing over rocks, and to pass along its
edge is not an easy task for the same rea.
son. At the lower end there is widening
out Of the walls, and breaking down into
two or morelevels from near the top. The
water becomes quiet and SO deep as to look
|green. An island rises few feet above the
water separating the stream into equal
parts. At the lower end of this island it
breaks down into an immense chas,m and
the two streams, about eighty feet wide
each, and very deep, plunge down one
hundred and ninety feet, making as pretty
tails as seen anywhere. These are known
the little or twin falls. The rocky island,
with here and there a stunted pine; the
splash ana roar OF the waters; the spray
aash'ng on the rocks; the great whirlpool
beneath; the caves and rocks, ETC., make
ne scene grand and beautiful one, and
were there no other falls here this alone
would repay visit. But we push on to
Nna1 Is below For mile ard a half there
are such rapids as to preclude boating, and
We must either walk or take carriage and
1fSe across the country. We prefer the
Vmer, even il it is a laborious task to
''no over the masses of basaltic rocks,
,0.'s up and down as the path leads us.
"eF an hour we reach the skif' landing,
'A'' emoarking, float down the stream on
'AS'u waters, between walls nearly one
''0sa0a feet high, amusing ourselves with
''s scno OF our voices, reyerberatiny from
,4s 10 SIDE A mile and a halt of such
'a'"'s is pleasant experience, and is
,"1Su oS Our approach TO small islands, or
s'"oolnS as guardian sentincls Of the
s Ss'e' 'a''s and their danger below. Lar.
'''a'os seperate the waters and produce
SNS' Or more smaller falls. To the left
u The Mill Race and falls, which
'.So o' more central streams and falls
III one vas, sheet of water to flow
s, .,'a Eagle Rock, and then make the
. .s plunge to the canyon below. In the
:. '''e'e are massive islands carved in
:. ,.'@'''' forms ard caves by time and
.'''"enss' forming barriers which cause
49,: :a'e's 10 oe a>hed into whiteness and
:; as =: over cascades resembling streams
"'er' before leaving the last dizzy
sIs. ! r. on the extreme right is Bridal
L, aus ninety feet high,a gem in itself
s,.ars 'eSe -: comes the final leap of the
:, - 49, III descent OF two hundred and
.,ots W., , "os IN one massive volume of un.
he ua.,, I,oo' like some Of the great falls of